A critique of the effect of securitization lies in the impact it has on civil procedure. Discovery, negotiation, and litigation in general is more expensive for consumers with securitized loans than it is for loans funded by the traditional secondary market. Legal scholars have made a compelling case for the serious potential consequences for consumers when businesses use procedural dispute resolution costs as a hedge against enforcement of substantive law. For example, Jeff Sovern has recently pointed out that many businesses design systems that derive profit from increasing consumers’ transaction costs. Robert Rubinson has pointed out that only a “minute percentage” of society’s dispute resolution resources are allocated to disputes regarding consumers’ access to shelter even though “any principled moral or ethical analysis demonstrates that the stakes are much higher in disputes involving low-income disputants than in disputes involving affluent individuals or organizations.”

Moreover, an extensive literature demonstrates the great vulnerability of our civil justice system to manipulation of procedure in general, and discovery in particular. For example, a federal district judge’s remarks from the late 1970s seem equally resonant today:

The civil justice system in the United States depends on the willingness of both litigants and lawyers to try in good faith to comply with the rules established for the fair and efficient administration of justice. When those rules are manipulated or violated for purposes of delay, harassment or unfair advantage, the system breaks down … . My experience as a participant in and observer of civil litigation has convinced me that abuse of the judicial process … is widespread. Abuse of the judicial process occurs most often in connection with discovery. Unjustified demands for and refusals to provide discovery prolong litigation and drive up its costs. Fabrication and suppression of material facts are regrettably common occurrences, although lawyers and judges are often reluctant to admit it.

Given these observations, we should not be surprised to find a business system that derives its revenue from creating procedural roadblocks in the way of consumers litigating from the brink of homelessness.

One characteristic of structured finance is the erection of such barriers. In traditional two and three-party mortgage markets, consumers and their counsel had a clearer idea of whom they were borrowing from and who might seek to foreclose upon them if they failed to repay. Service of process, interrogatories, depositions, and negotiations could be expected to involve only one company which was responsible for all, or nearly all, the relationship functions associated with the loan.

In comparison, selling a loan into a contemporary structured finance conduit can force consumers to communicate with and litigate against many more business entities. Even simple litigation tasks, such as service of process, interrogatories, and requests for production of documents, can become much more complicated in structured finance. Whereas forty years ago, a borrower might need to serve one party, to bring the full range of predatory lending claims and defenses to bear on a securitization conduit can require serving ten or more different businesses.

This is a daunting task indeed, since at the outset, the consumer will almost always have no knowledge of the name, address or other contact information for many of these firms. Indeed, counsel for the foreclosing party herself probably does not know which businesses were involved in performing the various functions associated with the loan. Phone calls to the loan’s servicer are frequently ignored, subject to excruciating delays, and typically can only reach unknowledgeable staff who themselves lack information on the larger business relationships.

For their part, securitization trustees are not in the business of counseling the thousands of mortgagors pooled in each of the many real estate trusts they oversee. Policy makers must not underestimate the staggering difficulty of reconstructing the facts involved in only one loan. Securitization creates an opaque business structure that consumers have great difficulty forgathering.
Securitization also complicates the paper trail for a given mortgage by facilitating frequent permutations in the servicing and ownership history of the loan. One of the benefits of securitization is that it allows trustees to shop for the most efficient servicer, reassigning servicing rights for loan pools when a better deal comes along. And, depending on how the securitization conduit is structured, a loan may undergo several assignments in route to its destination pool. While these changes may help ensure that the pool securities pay out on time and otherwise manage risks to the businesses involved, they also raises costs for consumer counsel attempting to piece together who did what to their client.

At the same time mortgage loan documentation has become more complex, the organizational technology of securitization has displaced older, more transparent, public systems for maintaining records. Nowhere is this more apparent than the use of the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS, to circumvent county recording offices.

MERS’ primary function is to act as a document custodian. Major players in the mortgage lending industry created MERS to simplify the process of transferring mortgages by avoiding the need to re-record liens – and pay county recorder filing fees – each time a loan is assigned. “Instead, servicers record loans only once and MERS’ electronic system monitors transfers and facilitates the trading of notes …” Currently over half of all new residential mortgage loans in the United States are registered with MERS and recorded in county recording offices in MERS’ name. This has reduced transparency in the mortgage market in two ways. First, consumers and their counsel can no longer turn to the public recording systems to learn the identity of the holder of their note. Today, county recording systems are increasingly full of one meaningless name, MERS, repeated over and over again. But more importantly, all across the country, MERS now brings foreclosure proceedings in its own name – even though it is not the financial party in interest. This is problematic because MERS is not prepared for or equipped to provide responses to consumers’ discovery requests with respect to predatory lending claims and defenses. In effect, the securitization conduit attempts to use a faceless and seemingly innocent proxy with no knowledge of predatory origination or servicing behavior to do the dirty work of seizing the consumer’s home. While up against the wall of foreclosure, consumers that try to assert predatory lending defenses are often forced to join the party – usually an investment trust – that actually will benefit from the foreclosure. As a simple matter of logistics this can be difficult, since the investment trust is even more faceless and seemingly innocent than MERS itself. The investment trust has no customer service personnel and has probably not even retained counsel. Inquiries to the trustee – if it can be identified – are typically referred to the servicer, who will then direct counsel back to MERS. This pattern of non-response gives the securitization conduit significant leverage in forcing consumers out of their homes. The prospect of waging a protracted discovery battle with all of these well funded parties in hopes of uncovering evidence of predatory lending can be too daunting even for those victims who know such evidence exists. So imposing is this opaque corporate wall, that in a “vast” number of foreclosures, MERS actually succeeds in foreclosing without producing the original note – the legal sine qua non of foreclosure – much less documentation that could support predatory lending defenses.

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My husband and I have put an offer on a short sale property that is associated with MERS and I was concerned with what we will be up against. How can you tell when your lender is associating with them? Can you request that they not do any business with them in regards to your loan? Also, does MERS want buyers of MERS owned properties to transfer their liability from the seller into the buyers name so they can continue to scam other people out of their money?

MERS = Mortgage Electronic Registration Inc. which is nothing more than a name that is plastered on mortgages and trust deeds. It was a creation of the financial wizards who are responsible for this entire financial debacle that we now find ourselves.

MERS is a “bankruptcy remote” Delaware corporation whose sole shareholder is Mers Corp. MersCorp and its “members” agreed to name MERS corporate name on any mortgage that was executed in conjunction with any mortgage loan made by a member of MersCorp. Thus in place of the original lender being named as the mortgagee on the mortgage that is supposed to secure their loan, MERS is named as the “nominee” for the lender who actually loaned the money to the borrower. In other words MERS is really nothing more than a name that is used on the mortgage instrument in place of the actual lender.

MersCorp was the created in the early 1990’s by a “brain trust” consisting of the who’s who of the mortgage industry and Wall Street. Including the former C.E.O.’s of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Indy Mac, Countrywide, Stewart Title Insurance and the American Land Title Association. Most of these so called financial geniuses are now reviled as financial sharks who were primarily responsible for a system that was the root cause of the current financial disaster. The executives of these companies lined their pockets with billions of dollars oh unearned bonuses and free stock by creating so-called mortgage backed securities using bogus mortgage loans to unqualified borrowers thereby creating a huge false demand for residential homes and thereby falsely inflating the value of those homes. Allowing even more loans to be made for even larger amounts to unqualified borrowers. Now that the chickens have come home to roost the previously concealed design flaws with the MERS “paperless system” are now being discovered by lawyers, judges and legal experts. MERS marketing claims that its “paperless systems fit within the legal framework of the laws of all fifty states” are now being vetted by courts and legal commentators throughout the country.

This writer has been investor in real estate since 1976, and has owned properties in eight states and three countries. Over the last thirty two years I have witnessed and heard of many illegal or fraudulent schemes involving real estate finance. The MERS “paperless system” is the type of scheme that is hatched in some internet boiler room in Nigeria. Yet MERS was “invented” in the boardrooms of our once prestigious American financial institutions. This gigantic scheme completely ignored long standing law of commerce relating to mortgage lending. The effect of this system has led to catastrophic metldown on both the American and global economy.

MERS admittedly does not hold any promissory notes. A party must have possession of a promissory note in order to have standing to enforce and/or otherwise collect a debt that is owed to another party. Given these facts MERS does not have legal standing to enforce or collects on the millions of mortgage loans that are supposedly secured by mortgages which name MERS, as a “nominee”.

MERS is now being taken to task by Court’s all over the country for its lack of standing. Where MERS was routinely bringing actions as “nominee” for this or that ledner, MERS is now being denied access to Court’s as the “nominee” for lenders.

Court’s are also now routinely vetting sworn statements contained in affidavits submitted by various corporate “officers” of MERS. Several Court’s have taken issue with the competence of these so-called MERS officers testifying to issues of which they have no direct personal knowledge and who are not actual employees or officers of MERS in the true sense of the word. These so-called MERS officers are usually employees of entities who are servicing the loan for the actual lender. MERS admittedly has no legal right to foreclose or otherwise collect debt which are evidenced by promissory notes held by someone else.

Please pass the word on MERS. Mainstream media commonly refers to MERS as a mortgage lender, creditor, and mortgage company. Whne in fact MERS has never loaned a dime to anyone, is not a creditor and is not a mortgage company. MERS is merely a name that is printed on mortgages, purporting to give MERS some sort of legal status, with regard to a loan made by a completely different enitity.

I am an attorney in RI. I have been battling MERS for over a year. Terrible decision by Judge last week. I will appeal. I would love to share this story with you. I have a PI hearing on Wednesday where I will argue MERS assignment violates RI law. It does. We shall see.

I’m in Calif., non-judicial state. Why would any government take away your rights to a judicial sale of you “home” during a foreclosure? MONEY, AGAIN? Calif. is dominated by too much money going to the wrong places.

Our Judges, civil and federal don’t care here too much. They’ve been on the take for so long…it’s hard to have to look at the law, and they don’t have to. Our good lawyers work for the banks, the others we might pay $1,500 to 5,000 to don’t even show up to court. Bankruptcy Judges seems to be the only honest ones around here, not civil or federal judges. It’s a nightmare in California.

So, that’s why I really appreciate you and the lawyers like you. Jenna

As a result of this ruling, MERS:
1) Illegally entered into all of the Deeds of Trust in California and are voidable, if not VOID.
2) Illegally assigned the Notes and Deeds back to the lenders
3) Illegally substituted the Trustee
4) Has no legal standing in Court, because they are not registered with the Secretary of State, nor are they exempt from registering according to this new case.

You may be intereted in a Texas court of appeals opinion I received today in a pro bono case in which the court of appeals found that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to evict the property owner post-foreclosure. MERS did the non-judicial foreclosure and court held that the trial court could not decide the issue of possession without determining title, since there was nothing in the deed records demonstrating MERS’ interest in the property. Email me if you want & I’ll send you the opinion.

Please send me any information you may have Just trying to figure out who MERS really is and what legal standing they have or what we can do to stop them. Thanks in advance. I am truly interested in the opinion.

I am also interested in any information you may have Just trying to figure out who MERS really is and what legal standing they have or what we can do to stop them. Thanks in advance. I am truly interested in the opinion. I have the fight in me, so I did hire a law firm to go after these crooks.

I am in the middle of this. I am confused. I have a remod offer from IndyMac…and this offer expires today (7/24) and I asked to have this date extended by one week. No dice. I feel pressured to make a decision because my Notice of Trustee Sale is set for 8/27. I have a lot of questions. Here is the odd thing, I looked at the Notice of Trustee Sale this morning and for the first time noticed MERS as the acting party in filing of foreclosure. I am very concerned…so here are my questions:

What title protection do I have if I am served by MERS and yet have new terms with IndyMac?
I need to stall for more time to understand what I am signing up to…should I decline the current offer?
If I do, what is the process to push out the8/27 date for Notice of Trustee Sale?

IndyMac pretty much is telling me if I don’t accept their offer, I need to go through the process of reapplying for a remod and they can not guarantee an offer will be made. Basically the squeeze.

I’m dealing with the same situation her in Georgia with Wells Fargo Mortgage as the servicer of my loan. I had two mortgages a 1st and 2nd with them. They foreclosed on the 1st mortgage and then cme back and said it wasn’t the 1st it was the 2nd that thet foreclosed on but the paperwork says otherwise. I have been fight them in court and requested the original signed blue ink copy of my note and their council refused stating that it would require to much work to try and find the information. So, that was their response that they filed when answering my request. If it is at all possible I would like to talk more about my situation because there is much more to the case.

If the attorney refuses to produce the wet ink signature of the note, they are not the holder in due course. If the Judge refuses to uphold the law, threaten to prosecute him for marketing a counterfeit security, he’ll either step off the bench or shut up and you can demand summary judgement. That should end your problem.

R.K. Arnold serves as President & CEO of MERSCORP, Inc. and its subsidiary, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. He joined MERS at its inception in 1996, and served as Senior Vice President & General Counsel until his promotion to President in 1998. He is a member of the MERS Board of Directors. His team has built MERS into the central electronic registry for the mortgage finance industry.

Kevin Lamson age 53 years has died. Kevin a tireless expert of Pro Se found his place in the court room over 20 years ago and battled many a seasoned lawyer over the years who suddenly found themselves hopelessly upon the ropes of the court within a few minutes of the hearing, and left the Judges scurrying for their rule books and asking to themselves, “Who is this guy” Kevin will be missed greatly by the many of us who spent our own times wrestling in court Pro Se and the many long days and nights working out the law in the libraries and conference rooms of Anoka, Ramsey, and Hennepin counties.
Rest in Peace Kevin

So lost in our own problems the blurb about a guy named Kevin who personifies probably all of us responding to this website has died and no one responded – what’s wrong with us – I can relate to this guy – spending ridiculous hours and endless viewings re this situation involving MERS, saving our homes, etc., I too am battling and now I do it additionally with the name of Kevin in my mind and heart – because I too could be in the next blurb with same topic – as a litigation paralegal fighting my own battles I now have Kevin to thank – know you are alive in memory Kevin with at least one human being who has gained momentum by your wisdom and sharing it with us! Thank you, Deby

Hi my name is brian, I am a self employed and remodel houses. I was given a loan 2 years ago for the purchase of my first home. Business started getting really slow the last year. I just had my son born on december 27, 2009 and now have another one coming in 8 months. With business being extremely slow I called my bank and told them my situation hoping they could extend my lown by putting a payment on the end of my lown so I wouldnt loose my home. I was informed that fannie mae (which at the time I had no knowledge of) had my interest only lown (which i got knowing that the only way i would make money on my home was by the value of my home going up on average it was going up 1% every year, so I figured after 2 years I would be able to make $50,000 profit and either sell my home or refinance to get out of my interest only loan. Now that the value of my home has depreciated about $40,000 and I have paid the bank around $20,000 in interest and i havent been able to make the last 8 payments. I am not in a very good situation. It turned out that I wasnt the only one whose business was slow. It was because of loans like mine that everyone was loosing their homes. I am lucky enough that i havent lost my home. I just got something in the mail today saying that i am approved for a home loan modifcation and the deliquent payments are going to be added to the end of my lown making my home loan for $276,000 (259,500 was the original loan) my interest rate will start off for the first 2 years being 2.75% then going up 1% every year until it caps off at 5.25%, they also made it a 40 year loan instead of a 30 year loan. making it so i wont own my home until I am 70 years old (if can even work construction at that age) the papers i got said nothing about a prepayment penalty and doesnt have very much information on it. I need to sign it in presence of a notary public by 8-20-09 not much more about the papers exept it has Mortgage Electronic Recordings Systems, Inc. on it. I am thankfull that I have not lost my home, but my home is worth probably 230,000 and the lown amount is going to be 276,000 and its not going to be paid off for 40 years. Not knowing anything about MERS I dont know If i should sign the papers. I dont want to get myself in an even worst situation.

If you are in default then you don’t have much of a choice. The 111 day clock is running. Do the deal make the payments and then try for a short sale down the road. If the deal makes sense for you as compared to renting go for it and then if it doesn’t work out you could reapply for a loan mod again later. Once again you need to stop the foreclosure clock

My mortgate is held by PHH and MERS is also listed. I have been trying to work with PHH at least since July to help me. I have not gotten any responses from them. I have filled out and sent in all the paper work they requested, some twice. I have manage to get thru to a human once and he told me on 9/21 that someone named Andrew was working on my file and it could be as many as 60 days before they would come to a decision. With in two days of that call I got the letter of forclosure from an Atty. Which said I had 30 days from that letter to respond which would be 10/20 something. Last wk I got a letter fromthe Atty that my sheriff sale was set for 11/24. WOW, they work fast. This is my first home and encounter of this stuff. I have no idea what to do since I can never get thru to talk to “Andrew”. Please give me some idea what to do and where to start.

MERS essential business plan has been slammed by a number of courts. Florida allows MERS to foreclose only where it can show possession of the actual note, and not standing merely as nominee. MERS V. Azize, 965 So,2nd 151 Other foreclosing creditors do not even have to notice MERS in Arkansas and Kansas because it does not hold the note. Kansas, Landmark National Bank v. Kesler has a full discussion of MERS peculiar “rights” and powers. August 28, 2009. See, Arkansas MERS, INC. v. Southwest Homes of Arkansas. New York courts have raised numerous issues. For instance, MERS frequently only assigns the loan from Bank A to Bank X months after a foreclosure action is already filed by Bank X. It is simple fraud on the court because the loan was actually electronically assigned soon after the note was signed. However, the court holds Bank X to their word and demands an explanation from one in corporate capacity why Bank X purchased a loan at full face value which was already in default. Wells Fargo v. St. Aubin, 2009 NY Slip Op. 50197(U); Wells Fargo v. Guy, 2008-NY-0505.191; Deutsch Bank v. Campbell 2008-NY Slip Op 52506(U) More damning, the court has demanded to see the agent’s letter of authority to make the transfer. Deutsch v. Campbell, supra. This is problematic because MERS does not have any agents per se, but merely deputizes either Bank X or the loan servicer to make the transfer. Embarassingly, the MERS “agent” is thus often an employee or attorney of the plaintiff. Bank of New York v. Mulligan 2008-NY-0606.083; HSBC Bank v. Perboo 2008-NY-0715.037.
MERS probably cannot legally do what it offers as a service, the power to transfer realty without recordation under the very careful and rigid law of that has protected real estate for 400 years. Took them only a little more than a decade to show that there were good reasons for those rules. This nation’s early days were full of vast real estate speculations. But this allowed speculation in a way never before possible. Now the courts are so clogged with foreclosures that creditors rights and remedies are a fiction. Florida found that MERS often could not find the original notes, just the assignments of mortgages. Statute of Fraud and all that. Deficiency judgments are no longer sought. Just demanding the original paperwork can delay a case so long that debtors recoup their downpayment during the wait by living in the premises for free. As people begin to realize that the banks are in a very weak position, they have begun to walk on those 06-07-08 mortgages. Smart banks are marking to market and rewriting loans, but the national banks, the TARP-ers, idiots as always, are still talking tough and accumulating non-performing properties that they cannot maintain or often even protect.

Can someboby explain to me this?
“MERS is a separate corporation that is acting solely as a nominee for lender and lender’s successors and assigns.MERS is the mortgagee under this secutity instrument.MERS is organized and existing under the laws of Delaware,and as address and telephone number of P>O>BOX 2026,Flint ,MI 48501-2026 tel (888) 679-MERS “( art. C my mortgage doc.)

“Lender is AEGIS WHOLESALE CORP. (ART.D my mortgage doc)

Now..
U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE OF CERTIFICATEHOLDERS OF LXS 2006-4N filled a foreclosure case against me and my wife (02/15/2008) in which MERS “acting solely as nominee for AEGIS WHOLESALE CORP” SHOW AS DEFENDANT ALONG WITH US. (?)

Chicago is so corrupt that the courts aren’t listening to anything we are saying
the attorneys for MERS actually plaed the case on hold and never reactivated it which is requried by law, the judge allowed them to move forward. We had to appeal, but the appellate courts are doing the same thing. We have written everyone we know to write no one outside of the Patrick Fitzgerald office who stated it’s not the area. Please help we are still in our home….but we need to know who can and will stop this fraud.

appeal appeal all the way to the Supreme Court of the State, and then the federal system for constitutional violations. we have the right to equal protection of the law and due process for civil matters as well.

Hello,
I was surfing the web & found your site. I have read about Timothy McCandless & his plight with ‘MERS’. I filed my Chap.7 Bk. in Apr. 2, 2009 & received my “Discharge of Debtor” papers from the Court on July 30, 2009. I am still using the B.K. Court as a court of equity to continue my motion’s against attorney’s representing ‘MERS’. The attorney’s for ‘MERS’ filed a motion to lift automatic stay in my case in June 2009 & it was granted. I filed a motion to oppose & the (corrupt Judge) denied my motion because he said I file my motion late, after the 14 day period. I filed on the 10th of July, 14 days before the hearing & the judge said he needed it in his hands on the 10th & did not get it until the 13th. I am a pro-per in my case, litigating on my own & not an attorney, that is subject to the courts ruling. I found an address for ‘MERS’ in Sacramento, CA, then misplaced it. On Dec. 7th, 2009 I had a hearing on a motion 2004(b) for an examination of ‘MERS’ & attorney’s representing ‘MERS’. As of Dec. 8 the judge granted my motion to examine ‘MERS’ & their attorney’s. I have not yet had these alleged corps. served with subpoena’s. I have the address’s of the attorney’s & no address for ‘MERS’ in Sacramento, CA. I called phone directory & they had no listing for ‘MERS’ in Sac., CA or any other listing for them in the state of California. Do you have information of where I can serve ‘MERS’? I would appreciate forwarding this info to me. Thank you for your time in this matter.
Best Regards,
Dennis Steinke

From what I have learned, MERS is not licenced to do business in California.
I found this address on their Website, hope it helps:
MERS
1818 Library STreet, Suite 300
Reston, VA 20190

We need to get the attention of the PEOPLE…so, my idea is DO NOT PAY TAXES IN APRIL!!
If this effort can be spread, the news will jump on it because NOT PAYING TAXES has never been done on the widespread effort.
There are 60 million mortgages with MERS so if 60 million homeowners DO NOT PAY TAXES, it will get attention because there are not enough jail cells to hold all of us!!
The Courts are slow and the Judges may be paid off, let’s get real here! It happens all the time…
Take the fight to the media by not paying and believe you me, the newspapers will finally cover this, there are too many of us!!

Found this link about what the foreclosure attorneys and their banking buddies in Minneapolis, Minnesota may be up to regarding the sale and possible skimming of of millions in profits on “foreclosure flipping” then gorging on TARP burgers.
We served foreclosure papers everyday and were curious why we see sales that are underbid by huge amounts on a regular basis. I wish my old buddie Kevin Lamson was still with us, as he was a junkyard dog in exposing crooked lawyers and bankster buddies.

I am in Florida & Liquidation Properties Inc. is trying to foreclose on us. They filed that they lost the note & asked the court to reinstate. They have since filed a adusted rate rider note from a refi we did saying this is the original note. They also filed two assignments of mortgage the first one was Citi Residential lending as attorney for Argent Mortgage transfered assignment of mortgage to MERS. They then produced an assignment of mortgage from MERS to Liquidation Properties Inc who is now trying to foreclose. Can MERS transfer assignment of mortgage to someone else? We have a court date Aug 2nd 2010 it is now June 22nd running out of time. What should I file?

The REFI lender Argent Mortgage assigned the mortgage to MERS. MERS then assigned the mortgage to the party suing me….. If MERS cant do that What can I file with the court? I am disabled & can not afford an attorney, can someone please help? I am in Florida.

I just got a letter stating MERS has assigned the foreclosure rights to a different Trustee in California. Can I dispute this assignment?
It appears because of the problems MERS is encountering in other States they have decided to take this step.
Thanks for any cases and ideas

Today ,8-5-2010,I was delivered a summons and complaint. I need to know how to respond to these people, within 20 days. The sheriff sale is already schedule for sept. 1, 2010. I believe I am in a “forclosure by action”.
I paid a lump sum of 8600.00 in january 2010,these funds were applied only to penalties and late fees, then when reorganizing the loan they added 15,000 onto the principal amount,which made my payment larger than the original.My home is mortgaged at 204,000 now and valued at maybe 120,000.

It is my belief MERS is an illegal scam operation that is so criminal and devious, few judges have the learning and ability to sort through the massive scheme of fraud. It nearly takes a person with a Doctorate in Finance to understand the fraud. What makes this whole matter sickening, is the courts are refusing to deal with the fraud because the fall-out could be a depression on Wall Street that the great depression would never compare. Judges are trying to save the nation from massive bank failures and a collapse of Wall Street. The crumbling of Bear Stearns is nothing compared to what can happen as a result of the creation of MERS. The Federal government has a duty to bring MERS to his grave. The Congressman from the 50 states have a duty to begin House and Senate hearings on the fraud of this company. If this is not done, the land titles to millions of homes will be dirty for many, many years. I think it is time for Congressional action and hearings. Will the President of the Senate and the House have enought courage to bring this into the national spot-light? Do they even have the courage to bring in MERS and make them walk the plank?

In the event that I would wish to tender my payment in full for the full amount remaining on my mortgage in receipt from the lender the “original note” stamped “PAID IN FULL”. This would seem to be my right and to have been a common practice before MERS came upon the scene, in this event, if the lender could not produce the “original note” how are we to settle. ?

According to a policy update issued yesterday by the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS), “no foreclosure proceedings may be initiated in the name of MERS and no legal proceedings in a bankruptcy may be filed in the name of MERS”

I am now in court with GMAC, MERS, Ocwen, title and escrow companies and does 1-100 with the demurrer. They claim the same thing that they claim in every case, “Failed to state a proper cause of action.”

MY NAME IS LOWANDA FRIERSON
I HAVE BEEN READING YOUR ARTICLES ON MERS. MY QUESTION IS DOES IT MATER IF MERS WAS NOT NAMED ON THE DEFAULT OR THE SALE OF MY PROPERTY? MERS APPEARED ONLY WHEN I FIRST BROUGHT THE PROERTY. IT APPEARED THAT COUNTRYWIDE WAS THE ORIGINAL HOLDER BEFORE THE TRANSFER TO WASHNGTON MUTUAL. ON THE DEED IT SAID AFTER RECORDING SEND TO COUNTRYWIDE. MY FORECLOUSER TOOK PLACE AUGUST 12TH. THEY GAVE ME 90 DAYS BECAUSE I TOLD THEM THAT I HAVE A TENANT THERE. I WOULD LIKE YOU TO REPRESENT ME. I NEED YOUR HELP

[…] The Problem with MERS Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems …Nowhere is this more apparent than the use of the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS, to circumvent county recording offices. … No Comments 179 […]

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Reuters- Two of Wall Street’s largest Washington-based trade groups said on Tuesday that they were merging, as big banks rethink their lobbying strategies under the business-friendly administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. The Clearing House Association (TCH) and the Financial Services Roundtable (FSR), which both count the likes of Citigroup, Bank of […]

Bloomberg- Wells Fargo & Co. has emerged as the preferred financier for the U.S. gun industry. The bank has helped two of the biggest U.S. firearm and ammunition companies access $431.1 million in loans and bonds since December 2012, when the gun control debate gained steam after the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, according to data compiled […] […]

CNN- This month marks the tenth anniversary of the $29 billion US government-backed bailout of Bear Stearns. The collapse of this giant investment bank in March 2008, under the weight of its bad mortgage-linked bets, marked the beginning of the global financial crisis. To commemorate it, the US Senate plans to deliver a big gift […]

Lexology- Mortgage lenders using personal or commercial guaranties as recourse against default should take note of the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision this Tuesday in Horizon Bank, N.A. v. Marshalls Point Retreat LLC, No. 2016AP832, 2018 WI 19 (Mar. 6, 2018). In that case, amounts owing to Horizon Bank were secured by both a mortgage on real […] […]

Axios- “Lloyd Blankfein is preparing to step down as Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief executive as soon as the end of the year, capping a more than 12-year run that has made him one of the longest-serving bosses on Wall Street,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Why he matters: “The departure would conclude a 36-year Goldman career […]

Biz Journal- Bank of America Corp. chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan, a Wellesley resident, earned over 20 percent more last year than he did in 2016, as his total compensation rose to nearly $40 million. Moynihan made $39.9 million in 2017, including the value realized on the vesting of previously issued stock awards, according to the […]

COMING TO YOU LIVE DIRECTLY FROM THE DUBIN LAW OFFICES AT HARBOR COURT, DOWNTOWN HONOLULU, HAWAII LISTEN TO KHVH-AM (830 ON THE AM RADIO DIAL) ALSO AVAILABLE ON KHVH-AM ON THE iHEART APP ON THE INTERNET . . The planned show today will air next week. The outside AM station had a glitch. See you […]

CNBC- A group of nuns and religiously-affiliated investors said Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to publish a review that shows the root causes of the systemic lapses in governance and risk management that have led to ongoing controversies, litigation and fines. As a result of the company’s commitment, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility will w […]

Everyone approaching or in retirement should know about the HECM program and how it might impact their retirement years. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with today’s HECM mortgages... no matter what you've heard in the past.

Chad was our ally until Trump included the country on his latest travel ban list. Chad pulled troops out of Niger and as a result four U.S. soldiers were ambushed and are dead. Could this have been prevented?

I’m not angry about President Trump winning, nor about Hillary Clinton losing. For me, now it's only about our country’s continued recovery from the worst economic meltdown in 70 years. But, President Trump is proving to be his own worst enemy.

This is not a "left or right" podcast. It's an interview with an attorney who represents illegal immigrants in Tucson's federal court and has for the last 15 years. So, he knows what's happening on the US-Mexico border... and what isn't.

The robo-witnesses called by the fake servicers to testify at the trial of a foreclosure action regularly lie about their personal knowledge and understanding of the loan process, the collection process and the foreclosure process. They are given a script the content of which is completely unknown to them. This is perjury when it happens […]

Failure to apply the law does not mean that the law should not have been applied. “I think you are confusing the current reality of multiple erroneous court decisions with the legal reality of what is meant to be followed by statutes and case decision is going back to a time before this country was […]

By J. Guggenheim, LendingLies http://apps2.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?Year=2017&BillNumber=2057&Year=2017&BillNumber=2057 The Washington State Legislature is one vote away from making changes to Bill 2057 that would be detrimental to homeowners. The changes would clear the way for anyone, without proof, to claim to be in possession of a promissory […]

Last night on the Neil Garfield Show, Charles Marshall brought up the idea of the use of the subpoena power of the court. I agree that this is a way of lawfully penetrating into the inner recesses of the alleged loan process. People ask me to whom should they issue a subpoena? Opinions vary. But […]

THE TRUTH IS COMING OUT SPELLING DOOM FOR LEGAL PRESUMPTIONS IN FAVOR OF BANKS TONIGHT ON THE NEIL GARFIELD SHOW LIVE AT 6PM EDT CALL IN 347-850-1260 OR LOG ON http://tobtr.com/s/10664835 When will Chase and the other TBTF Banks finally be seen as conspirators who collectively have lied and created false documents in nearly all foreclosures […]

Documents filed with the SEC are not evidence of the legitimacy of a PSA. The PSA was not filed with the SEC although the banks would like you to think so. The document, such as it is, was loaded onto the SEC website without any review or acceptance process. Anyone can load documents onto the […]

HOW TO BREAK THE BANKS Listen to Neil Garfield, Dan Edstrom, Charles Marshall and Bill Paatalo present their findings and tell you how to use them. Watch as the story unfolds with real examples that you can use for presenting a clear narrative in court. Think about what you can do to save your home […]

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-dayen-deregulation-bank-bill-20180309-story.html Next week marks the 10th anniversary of the run on Bear Stearns, the investment bank that collapsed under the weight of toxic subprime mortgages. Although JPMorgan Chase snapped up Bear Stearns for pennies on the dollar, this maneuver failed to stop the bleeding from […]

Thursdays LIVE! Click in to the The Neil Garfield Show Or call in at (347) 850-1260, 6pm Eastern Thursdays Prior to the securitization era began, no party to litigation was entitled to a legal presumption of facts when they had engaged in patterns of conduct in which they had forged, fabricated or otherwise attempted to […]

http://www.wect.com/story/37671186/new-billboard-accuses-mortgage-company-of-fraud WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – A Wilmington resident and businessman has taken out a billboard on Eastwood Road accusing SunTrust Mortgage of dishonest business practices. The billboard has a picture of a home on it, and says “bogus loans” and “#SunTrustScandal,” directing people to […]

The US was a trial run and it worked perfectly for the investment banks. They got money from investors in exchange for what investors thought were RMBS. As they sold more and more of the junk “mortgage bonds” the Ponzi scheme grew geometrically and has now been institutionalized in the US. Globally the loan standards […]

Of the number of people who “purchased” a loan product leading up to the mortgage meltdown- most were refi’s on refi’s. At one point it was reported that MERS had data on 80 million mortgages — but that includes mortgages that were paid off by sale, refi etc. At last count the number of people […]

It’s always best to start at the beginning. All REMIC Trusts appear to be written up as common law trusts permitted under the laws of the State of New York or the State of Delaware. The problem with the REMIC Trusts is that they are not common law trusts nor trusts of any kind. Consider […]

Message of the day to homeowners and their lawyers: “stop admitting things that you assume are true. By admitting those facts you are hanging your client or yourself. Even the client is apt to say “Yes that is my signature on the note” when it has been described by opposing counsel as the original. In […]

Editor’s Note: S.2155 is known in Washington as the Crapo bill. A fitting name. Even Georgetown Law professor and former CFPB adviser Adam Levitin in a blog post warns the dangers of further bank deregulation. This bill functionally exempts 85% of US banks and credit unions from fair lending laws in the mortgage market By […]

First a little background. On February 6, 2018 a California federal judge certified a nationwide class of borrowers accusing Countrywide Financial Corporation of using inflated real estate appraisals to inflate its loan origination business from 2003 to 2008, overturning successor Bank of America’s claims that borrowers won’t be able to back up their racket […]

The Yvanova string of cases in California are based upon some vague notion of whether a void assignment (e.g., past the cutoff date) could be ratified by the trust, trustee or trust beneficiaries. Firstly, the trust can only operate through a trustee. That is black letter law in every state. In REMIC Trusts the Trustee […]

As Bill Paatalo (who brought this to my attention) says: “You can’t make this s–t up.” Reality is much stranger than fiction. This marks the point where we have entered the Twilight Zone in law where the rule of law is just a guidepost not to be confused with the real rule of men. Sheila […]

Thanks to Investigator Bill Paatalo for bringing this class action to our attention. http://homeloanjustice.com/ ATTENTION! IF YOU WERE WRONGLY DENIED OR DELAYED FOR MODIFICATION OF YOUR MORTGAGE PAYMENTS, YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO SUBSTANTIAL COMPENSATION. CONTACT US NOW TO RECEIVE A FREE EVALUATION. Bank of America Lawsuit Information The U.S. Government intr […]

Upon doing the deposition of Joeffery Long Wells Fargo I was amazed that they could be so blatant as against the California Homeowners Bill of Rights but then again it is Wells Fargo Joffrey Long rough draft Joffrey Long exhibits

Robert Wilbert | Latest News | April 29, 2017 The Debtor testified that RCS notified him that on June 1, 2016, Ditech would begin servicing the Note. A Ditech representative contacted the Debtor in June by phone and informed him that according to Ditech’s records, the Debtor was $2,000.00 in arrears on the Note. The […]

I would only add that none of the Trusts actually come to own the debt, loan, note or mortgage anyway. The creation of “assignments” and “powers of attorney” merely create the illusion of a transaction that never occurred. Rod Ciferri is licensed in New York State. I strongly recommend that lawyers read the following excerpt […]

By Tony Sarabia Published in Los Angeles Daily Journal January 3, 2013 Litigators often reach for doctrines such as res judicata or collateral estoppel to narrow the scope of a case. Res judicata prevents re-litigation of the same claim that was litigated in a prior case. Collateral estoppel prevents re-litigation of the same issue that […]

Getting the 50,000 or three times the actual damages (b) After a trustee’s deed upon sale has been recorded, a mortgage servicer, mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent shall be liable to a borrower for actual economic damages pursuant to Section 3281, resulting from a material violation of Section 2923.55, 2923.6, 2923.7, 2924.9, 2924.10, 292 […]

2920.5. For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply: (a) “Mortgage servicer” means a person or entity who directly services a loan, or who is responsible for interacting with the borrower, managing the loan account on a daily basis including collecting and crediting periodic loan payments, managing any escrow account, or enforcing the note […]

2920. (a) A mortgage is a contract by which specific property, including an estate for years in real property, is hypothecated for the performance of an act, without the necessity of a change of possession. (b) For purposes of Sections 2924 to 2924h, inclusive, “mortgage” also means any security device or instrument, other than a […]

CIVIL CODE SECTION 2920-2944.10 2920. (a) A mortgage is a contract by which specific property, including an estate for years in real property, is hypothecated for the performance of an act, without the necessity of a change of possession. (b) For purposes of Sections 2924 to 2924h, inclusive, “mortgage” also means any security device or […]

Many of my readers are probably aware that California law allows commercial landlords to accept a partial payment of rent after service of a 3 Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit and continue with an eviction action. This right to accept a partial payment after service of the notice is unique to commercial tenancies […]

On January 10, 2014 new RESPA rules went into effect concerning loss mitigation procedures. The new rules specify procedures a servicer must follow if a mortgage loan borrower requests loss mitigation assistance, such as a loan modification. The rules were drafted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”). In drafting the loss mitigation requireme […]

CONSTRUCTIVE FRAUD: The tort negligent misrepresentation (also known as “constructive fraud”) requires that each and all of the following elements be proved: “(1) a misrepresentation of a past or existing material fact, (2) without reasonable grounds for believing it to be true, (3) with intent to induce another’s reliance on the fact misrepresented, (4) [ […]

CONCEALMENT FRAUD: The tort of deceit or fraud by concealment requires that each and all of the following elements be proved: “(1) the defendant must have concealed or suppressed a material fact, (2) the defendant must have been under a duty to disclose the fact to the plaintiff, (3) the defendant must have intentionally […]

PROMISSORY FRAUD: The tort of deceit or fraud by a false promise requires that each and all of the following elements be proved: (1) a promise made regarding a material fact without any intention of performing it; (2) the existence of the intent at the time of making the promise; (3) the promise was made […]

PROVING FRAUD and or MISREPRESENTATION: DECEIT OR INTENTIONAL FRAUD The tort of deceit or intentional fraud requires that each and all of the following elements be proved: “(a) misrepresentation (false representation, concealment, or nondisclosure); (b) knowledge of falsity (or ‘scienter’); (c) intent to defraud, i.e., to induce reliance; (d) justifiable rel […]

PLEADING FRAUD / MISREPRESENTATION IN A COMPLAINT: In California, fraud must be pled in the complaint specifically. General and conclusionary allegations are not sufficient. (Stansfield v. Starkey (1990) 220 Cal.App.3d 59, 74; Nagy v. Nagy (1989) 210 Cal.App.3d 1262, 1268) Unlike most causes of action where the “the policy of liberal construction of the ple […]